Pat Cummins after seeing the wicket revealed in his press conference that he expects a high-scoring game in Lucknow against South Africa.
[Reporter:]
It is a familiar ground for Stoinis and also, we saw him practising last evening. So, will he be in the squad for tomorrow’s match?
[Pat Cummins:]
He’s fit so yeah, we’ll announce a team tomorrow but it’s a ground he knows pretty well. I think chatting to him and a couple of other guys, it’s probably in a bit of a different condition to what it is for IPL. The wicket looks really good so yeah, he’s someone we’ll look at pretty closely.
[Reporter:]
How is the mood of the team right now after losing the first match? And what are your plans for this match?
[Pat Cummins:]
Yeah, disappointed after the first match. Yeah, we weren’t at our best. So, yeah, everyone’s pretty driven the last few days. Everyone’s trained really well and yeah, I’m ready to go for this one.
[Reporter:]
What is your experience and opinion about this ground, about this pitch? And what will you do – have you seen the pitch and what will you do if you won the toss? Anything decided?
[Pat Cummins:]
I don’t know. We’ll judge tomorrow for the toss. But it’s a beautiful stadium. I thought I had been here, but I don’t think I have. Beautiful ground. The wicket looks really good. I haven’t had a look at it today, but last night looked really good, really even. So maybe a bit of pace and bounce. Yeah, so we’ll see how it is tomorrow.
[Reporter:]
Will it be a high-scoring match?
[Pat Cummins:]
Potentially yeah, it looks like. When it’s a good wicket – which that looks like – most of the games have been 300-plus
[Reporter:]
How’s Adam Zampa tracking? I understand the ball was pretty hard to grip for a wrist spinner the other night. But was there still some sort of lingering soreness there from those neck and shoulder issues he’s had in the past?
[Pat Cummins:]
I don’t know to be honest. I think he was okay. Yeah, his prep leading in was probably a bit lighter than he would normally have but yeah, I wouldn’t look too far into the last game. I thought he bowled okay but it’s pretty hard defending 200 and trying to create something out of nothing – so I’m sure he’d be great out there. Again, if you have a bit more of a total to bowl to, he’s one of our key guys.
[Reporter:]
Just on that front, Pat, given how difficult it was for the spinners to control the ball with the dew the other night, are you going to be inclined going forward to bowl first if you do win the toss?
[Pat Cummins:]
I think it’s different at every venue So, you know here it’s whatever a few thousand kilometres away from Chennai – it’s a bit different. Probably have another look tonight to see if there’s dew – but it doesn’t seem like there’s as much dew at this ground. But yeah, I don’t really have a strong opinion on the dew in one-day cricket. Some games, the ball gets heavy, and it’s actually better to bowl at night. In other games, it gets so slippery that it’s hard to grip onto. So, it’s kind of, it’s a bit different to T20 cricket.
[Reporter:]
You spoke prior to the first game about the middle overs, how crucial they are in one-day cricket and generally teams that take the most wickets in the middle overs 11 to 40 go far in this tournament. It’s a bit of a worry, you know with the sort of struggles that Australia’s had of late losing wickets in those middle overs. Can you take us inside the conversations to try and resurrect that going forward
[Pat Cummins:]
Yeah, it’s no secret that period of the game seems to be the most important in in one day cricket and it’s the same for our bowling group we’ve got to try and find ways to create wickets – it’s tough sometimes to force something in the middle if there’s a partnership on.
So that’s been much the same for the batters. How do we create partnerships? If they’re bowling well, how do we shift the pressure back onto their bowlers and try and force their hand to make some changes? But yeah, I think it’s a real delicate balance in one-day cricket of not taking huge risks, but it’s not like Test cricket where you can wait it out. You have to keep the run rate ticking over.
[Reporter:]
There’s always talk about your rivalry with England and India. And I think a lot gets written about it. But just how different is the rivalry with South Africa? You played quite a bit against them, just on the ground and just overall.
[Pat Cummins:]
Yeah, it’s another team that I feel like we play quite a lot against, which creates a bit of rivalry. I also always find with South Africa; we always match up quite similarly. They’ve always got some fast bowlers and some batters that take the game on, maybe a leg spinner. So, it always feels like it’s a clash of two very similar teams. So yeah, no doubt it will be another great game tomorrow.
[Reporter:]
A lot of the guys from 2019 are still here and part of the squad. A lot of them like yourself have become fathers and your family’s coming down, some of the families are already here. How different is it in terms of having a different perspective to cricket itself, to life itself, and just walking around the team lobby and the dressing room as compared to, say, four years ago?
[Pat Cummins:]
Yeah, quite different. Everyone’s four years older. Even the ones that haven’t had kids are now playing their second World Cup. You also throw a couple of T20 World Cups in there in between as well, so it feels a bit more, I guess, settled. Everyone feels like they know what they need to do. I think you’re seeing a lot more people come, train, put everything into training, but once they go away, they actually get away from cricket a bit more and spend time with their families. Yeah, so I’d say it feels a bit more well-balanced. I don’t think the actual cricket side of things has changed that much, but outside of that I think it’s in a really good place.
[Reporter:]
This may be a question for further down the track, but maybe you’re also thinking about it tomorrow. How will your rotation of quick bowlers work through the tournament? And even for yourself personally, how do you see yourself rotating around that?
[Pat Cummins:]
Yeah, I mean, the intention is to try and play every game. We won’t be rotating bowlers really unless we have to – someone’s really fatigued or someone’s managing a niggle that needs a bit of a rest – so yeah, the intention is to try and have everyone on the selection table for each game. You pick your best 11. But yeah, it’s a World Cup. You can’t really take any game lightly. So yeah, probably later on in the tournament, we’ll look at that if we need to. But at the moment, yeah, there’s no plans.
[Reporter:]
Have you got an update on Travis Head for us? George Bailey mentioned there was another check-in point around the 11th or 12th of October.
[Pat Cummins:]
Yeah, no update. I think it’s tomorrow he’s getting a scan and seeing the surgeon to get an update. So hopefully next couple of days.
[Reporter:]
About your own one-day bowling, it’s a format that you don’t get to play regularly. What has the adjustment been like? I know you played a few this year, but between 2020 and now, you haven’t got the chance to do that. And where do you think your one-day bowling is right now?
[Pat Cummins:]
I’m really happy where it is. I feel like it’s in as good a place as it ever has been. I think early in my career, I found it a hard balance between Test cricket and T20, like getting too funky. I always find with one-day cricket; your roles can be very different. Being an opening bowler with a ball that swings is very different to coming on first change, maybe bowling cross seamers where you’re trying to almost defend and get your wickets through pressure. So, it’s a different kind of challenge to the other formats, but yeah, I feel in a really good place and I enjoy the challenge of having to almost be prepared for anything in terms of death bowling or just basics or trying to create a wicket out of nothing. So, yeah, pretty happy.
[Reporter:]
There’s a lot of talk around one-day cricket and the context of it, but what you’ve mentioned there is that it requires a slightly different approach and skill to Tests or T20s. What kind of unique challenge does it present and do you still feel it’s a challenge you’re interested in as a bowler to like develop a one-day game side of things?
[Pat Cummins:]
Yeah, I think the biggest challenge is you’ve got ten overs it’s actually quite a physical format I find it probably the most physically taxing if you’re playing two or three games in a week. We’re doing 15kms in a 50-over match. I think in T20, if you bowl one really good over, that can be match-winning. I think in one-day cricket, that’s not normally the case. And it’s rare that the conditions are really in the bowler’s favour, which is fine. It’s just a challenge you’ve got to try and deal with. So yeah, it’s tough, but I do enjoy it.
[Reporter:]
[inaudible] How do you take it as captain of the side for two or three times?
What are the challenges?
[Pat Cummins:]
Yeah, I mean, first of all, it’s a great legacy, so I feel really lucky to be in that position. But yeah, every World Cup’s different. It’s a different bunch of boys out there. So yeah, It’s great. I enjoy it. We’re all in it together, the 15 of us who are obviously desperate to win. So, I feel lucky to be in charge.
